For the first time since 2005, the No. 12 Boston University women’s soccer team will play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
According to BU coach Nancy Feldman, the progress made by this year’s squad is fully indebted to the 2005 team and every team since then.
“We’re building on a foundation created in 2005,” Feldman said. “You [are] put in a better position each year.”
Now, BU will face one of its toughest challenges of the season, and even the past few years – Wake Forest University, ranked No. 1 in its tournament region by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee and No. 6 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America coach’s poll.
The game will be played Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Wake Forest’s Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Terriers (19-2-1) advanced to the second round this past Saturday by beating Harvard University 3-0, in the first NCAA Tournament game played at Nickerson Field.
Sophomore midfielder Kylie Strom scored her eighth goal of the season, while freshman forward Ana Cuffia notched the first goal of her collegiate career.
The Crimson tipped the ball into their own net for the Terriers’ third goal.
BU goalkeeper Alice Binns stopped four shots in the Terriers’ first tournament win since they upset the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., six years ago.
Binns was named to the TopDrawer Magazine Soccer Team of the Week for her strong performance.
Last week against Harvard, Feldman strayed from her typical strategy of switching goalkeepers at half time, keeping senior Alice Binns in for a full 90 minutes instead of substituting Kelly King.
As of Wednesday night, there was no word from Feldman on her goalkeeping plans for Friday. She only said the goalkeeper would be chosen the day before with starters picked on game day.
The Terriers enter Friday’s contest on a 14-game winning streak. Two weeks ago, BU captured its fifth-straight America East Conference championship, after it won out its conference schedule for the second-consecutive year.
Meanwhile, Wake Forest has played eight ranked opponents in 10 games since the beginning of October, posting a record of 5-2-3 during that stretch.
Most of its opponents in that stretch were fellow members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, lauded as one of the powerhouse conferences of NCAA Division I women’s soccer.
The Demon Deacons are 15-3-4 overall.
Wake Forest hosted Oakland University last weekend to open the tournament. On its home turf, the Demon Deacons won 2-0 against the Golden Grizzlies to advance to Friday evening’s contest.
Katie Stengel and Rachel Nuzzolese, the team’s leading scorers with 15 and 11 goals, respectively, both scored for Wake Forest against Oakland.
After watching recent Demon Deacon play, Feldman called the duo “a couple of real special forwards.”
Kristen Meier complements Wake Forest’s forward attack with seven assists.
In goal, Aubrey Bledsoe has played all 22 of Wake Forest’s games, allowing only 14 goals and stopping 60 shots.
Overall, Feldman says she expects Wake Forest to be “mobile in the center of the field” and “strong.”
“They’re an aggressive and dynamic attacking team,” Feldman said.
BU enters the second round with hopeful expectations of the third round on Sunday.
Before the Terriers and the Demon Deacons play, Penn State University and Marquette University will face off to determine the other opponent for Sunday’s matchup, which will also be played at Spry Stadium.
As usual, the Terriers continue to focus on just the game ahead of them, with no specific outlook past Friday’s contest.
“I haven’t really thought about [potential future opponents] at all,” Feldman said. “I have to see them play Friday . . . I would be thrilled and excited for them all.”
Nonetheless, a second-round win, which would be the first in the program’s history, is a possibility for the Terriers.
“It’s another step as a program,” Feldman said. “We played consistently in a stretch run, a combination of past performance of taking baby steps and this year’s team establishing itself aggressively. We need to have confidence going in. Not bravado [but] reality of knowing what it’s going to take on game day.”
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